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Bautista, Lind searching for solutions

Bautista, Lind searching for solutions

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ANAHEIM -- The Blue Jays entered play on Saturday having won four consecutive games and six of their past seven, but most of that success has come without a lot of production from their No. 3 and No. 4 hitters.

Jose Bautista and Adam Lind are still looking for a prolonged period of production at the plate as each player entered Game 3 of a four-game series hitting under .200 for the year.

Both players are experiencing some frustration during the early stages of the year but seem to be struggling in different ways. At times, Bautista has been overly aggressive, while the club feels Lind has been a little too patient.

"At the beginning of the year, I wasn't really swinging the bat the way I'm capable," said Lind, who entered play Saturday hitting .195 with one home run and seven RBIs. "I mean, I was having good at-bats, seeing pitches, being a bit passive I think, but I had a talk with the staff and they said we don't care about walks anymore, go up there and swing hard."

Lind spent a large portion of last season being too aggressive at the plate. Blue Jays manager John Farrell felt Lind would get himself out on occasion by chasing pitches out of the strike zone.

The 28-year-old Lind has rectified that problem a little bit this season but might have overcompensated as the club feels some hittable pitches are going by as the first baseman attempts to get into deep counts.

"We want him to make an impact with the bat," Farrell said. "That's going to come through driving the baseball and that's going to come by being aggressive, particularly when he gets into leverage counts or advantage counts. That doesn't mean to expand the zone, that means look at an area and turn the bat loose.

"We want guys to go in, hit first, slam on the brakes if a pitch is outside the zone, and I think he has been a little bit in between a little bit of the times."

The opposite problem has been happening to Bautista, who has expanded the strike zone. Bautista is normally the most patient hitter in Toronto's lineup but has gone through long periods of time this season not getting a pitch to his liking.

"I'm trying to have good at-bats," Bautista said after hitting his fifth home run of the season on Friday night. "It's just that I'm not seeing many pitches over the heart of the plate. I'm seeing strikes, but they're just really good pitchers' pitches in the corners, and it's hard to take advantage when that's happening."